The French Republican right sits between two currents: Macronism and the far right. Within the ranks of the Republicans, LR and allied parties face a crucial internal vote this weekend to select a new leader. Two figures from the party’s hard wing compete: Eric Ciotti, an assistant, and Bruno Retailleau, a senator. It is a contest between two well-known figures with only modest ideological distance, highlighting the difficulty of forging clear national leadership within the party.
After Ciotti took 42 percent of the vote among supporters last weekend, he advances to the second round as the favorite. The result will be announced Sunday afternoon. A surprising showing by Retailleau, around 34 percent, cannot be dismissed. Regardless of the winner, the core lines of LR’s political stance remain murky, mirroring a national decline as the party holds its ground while failing to reach the second round in the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections and showing weak results in large municipal and regional races.
“I’m proud to be on the right”
Ciotti, age 57, declared at a rally with roughly 300 supporters at the party’s Paris headquarters that the right should be proud of its history. He is closely aligned with former president Nicolas Sarkozy, who has served as a national MP for over a decade in Alpes-Maritimes, a affluent, aging region on the Côte d’Azur. Ciotti presented a straightforward stance: the right without complexes.
Since entering the National Assembly, Ciotti has championed tougher criminal penalties, more prisons, and stricter immigration controls. He supports measures to revoke citizenship for those born abroad or living illegally. These positions have earned him the backing of a radical base. Ciotti was a finalist in the party’s presidential primaries last year. A later anti-Ciotti coalition within the party helped Valérie Pécresse win the nomination, though her presidential bid ultimately failed.
A year later, Ciotti remains determined to lead the party, but a preliminary criminal inquiry into alleged fictitious jobs tied to a former partner has undermined his bid. The case echoes a controversy surrounding the former prime minister’s spouse, which contributed to the collapse of competing campaigns in the past. The Fillon family was later convicted on related charges.
Win back Le Pen voters
Retailleau, a 62-year-old rival and the head of the LR group in the Senate, seeks to exploit the alleged corruption case and the broader weariness with past scandals to win over disillusioned voters. A successful effort could nudge the party’s trajectory, though its base remains limited after a presidential vote around 6 percent and a legislative share near 10 percent, with many voters pulled toward Macron or the far right.
On issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion rights, Retailleau positions the party to the right of Ciotti. Personal frictions have not aided unity; disagreements often surface when leaders turn away from colleagues. The question of naming the LR candidate for the 2027 presidential race remains unsettled. Macron is unlikely to feature in the LR lineup, opening a narrow window of opportunity. Some speculate Laurent Wauquiez, Sarkozy’s former minister and current Lyon regional head, might wait.
Still, both candidates favor experimental approaches to win back voters who flirt with Le Pen or Zemmour. A political analyst from Sciences Po Paris, Emilien Houard-Vial, notes that the instinct to court Le Pen’s base echoes Sarkozy’s 2007 strategy, though it has not yielded the same results in recent elections.
a european trend
In this setting, the Republican right has not only shifted its positions to the right but has also resisted any coalition with Macron. The centrist leader and Sarkozy had urged a coalition to stabilize a government lacking an absolute majority in the National Assembly. Ciotti and Retailleau both reject strong partnerships with the governing bloc, arguing instead for a solid but principled opposition. The LR holds 62 seats out of 577 in Parliament, a figure seen as pivotal for future legislative dynamics. The two leaders say they want to protect the party’s identity while potentially supporting essential oversight or reprovals if necessary, aligning with a broader conservative approach across Europe.
Analysts note that many LR voters oppose Macron, yet many still align with Macronism or drift toward far-right currents. This pattern mirrors shifts seen in other European conservatives, including Spain’s Partido Popular, Italy’s Forza Italia, Austria’s FPÖ, and segments of Germany’s CDU-CSU.
Experts emphasize that among mainstream right-wing factions, LR remains among those most willing to entertain ideas from the far right, though formal electoral partnerships have been rare. The French presidential model and its two-round system further shape this dynamic, creating paradoxical opportunities for an opposition that aims to stay coherent while challenging the status quo.